


it's been a long day

by orphan_account



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Domestic, Gen, Minor Character Death, also!, because how else do you get rid of politicians amirite, gentle beheadings, well. except for kalen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 06:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16341956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Mad Governor Kalen, the bastard, had come back. He had a hood covering his face, but Julia would recognize those shoes—expensive, almost glittering. Newly bought, while the rest of Raven’s Roost starved. While the people were hungry, he was encrusting gemstones into his shoes.in which Julia rolls a d-20 perception check and realizes Mad Governor Kalen is in Raven's Roost before anyone can die.





	it's been a long day

**Author's Note:**

> i want julia in the main story. sue me. i feel like she and lucretia wouldve been Amazing friends. 
> 
> also consider this: magnus "rushes in" character would be SO DIFFERENT if julia was there. ik magnus doesnt rly care if he dies in canon bcos then he'll be with julia but... in this au its so much more jokey like. if julia Isnt There then magnus will do such chaotic things bcos julia's his impulse control. but he'd also be so much more careful as well.
> 
> we love lawful good but also super chaotic magnus burnsides!

Julia had no idea what to do. 

She had been scrubbing tables at the tavern, helping out a friend, when she saw a man with shiny shoes and a hooded face order a drink.

Mad Governor Kalen, the bastard, had come  _ back.  _ He had a hood covering his face, but Julia would recognize those shoes—expensive, almost glittering. Newly bought, while the rest of Raven’s Roost starved. While the people were hungry, he was encrusting gemstones into his shoes. 

Julia swallows thinly. It’s been three months since Kalen’s army was defeated. He hadn’t come back so the guerilla fighters had quickly let up and returned their daily lives. But Julia knows why he waited to come back today. 

There was a grant feast today, under the stars, under the shadow of Raven’s Roost’s tall watchtower. If he bombed it the right way, it could crush everyone. 

If she made it obvious she caught on quickly, well. An end to her before to the rest of the town.

She bites her lip. Magnus had gone to Neverwinter a few days ago, and there’s no way she’ll get a message to him in time before sunfall. 

She finishes wiping down the last table before going to the back of the tavern. “Sir,” she whispers to the owner. “M-Mad Governor Kalen. He’s here.”

The tavern owner, a sweet old man named Davidson that helped fight against Kalen froze. “Are you sure, Jules?”

“Positive.”

Davidson frowns. He stands up and walks towards the front of the tavern. “Susan!” he yells. 

The other waitresses freeze.  _ Susan.  _ It’s a signal that they had decided on—if Davidson ever yells for Susan, it means  _ danger.  _

Kalen doesn’t know what it means. Three out of the four waitresses continue serving drinks, entertaining guests, and wiping down tables, the one dwarf waitress puts her apron up and dusts off her dress. Davidson brings her in close and tells her who it is. “I’ll warn the townspeople,” she whispers. 

“Go get me some more apples,” Davidson says, winking discreetly.

Susan runs out of the tavern. 

Kalen orders another drink. 

 

Sunset draws nearer and people have slowly been weeding out. The people of Raven’s Roost aren’t stupid. Not anymore.

Julia hums softly to herself as she brooms the interior of Hammer and Tongs. Her father had left a while ago with some of the other elders in the town. She promised him she’d be okay. He was on his way to Neverwinter to warn Magnus about the state of the town. As soon as they were okay, Julia would join them there. 

She would meet them there.

“Jules!” Susan shouts. “We’re on!”

Julia bites her lip. She grabs her guitar, homemade, crafted by Magnus himself. She has one shot at this. Only one. 

Sunset falls.

Nervous cheers fill the center of Raven’s Roost, filling out the long tables under the watchtower. Kalen chose a seat right next to the thing. But the watchtower was also right next to the stage. Julia smirked. Perfect.

Julia and the other waitresses all walk onto the stage. Julia coughs into her fist before taking the mic.  _ “Hello Raven’s Roost!”  _ She shouts. “Ready for the Grant Feast!?”

The cheers explode. “Awesome!” She cries. “Before we all get seated, my girls and I are going to play a song. Get comfortable, everyone!”

The waitresses all shuffle before collecting their instruments. Susan has a flute, and one of the older waitresses takes another microphone so she can sing. 

Julia strums her guitar and the song begins.

It’s a folk song, one everyone in Raven’s Roost knows. While the older waitress sings, Julia channels the feeling of sleep. She starts to break apart from the lyrics of the song, instead opting for a lullaby. Julia starts to sing into her own microphone and as she does, and it’s like magic is being poured out of her guitar and voice. 

The waitresses all have plugs in their ears. Susan delivered earplugs to everyone who was staying for the feast. Everyone, sans for Kalen.

He’s asleep before the song is over.

Julia smirks. She pulls out her plugs, everyone in the crowd doing the same. “Who wants to do the honors!?” She shouts.

Everyone in the crowd yells. The other waitresses pick Kalen up and take him to the townsquare and Julia runs to where Magnus leaves his extra weapons. She pulls a rather large ax out carefully and brings it back to the townsquare. One of the old guerilla soldiers that Julia recognizes from Magnus hiding in the basement of Hammer and Tongs in order to strategize their next move walks forward. “I’ll do it,” he says. “Name’s Karl. Karl the Kalen Slayer.”

Karl, two-handed, lifts the ax. With one swoop, it’s over. 

Karl picks up the Mad Governor’s head and everyone cheers. 

It’s over.

 

She’s so close to Neverwinter. She can feel it in her bones. The competition would’ve been earlier today, which means Magnus is for sure still in town. Her father should be there too, and so they’re waiting for a sign that everyone’s okay. 

Julia’s been riding forward, guitar strapped to her back, for two more hours before she sees the very edge of a city. 

She slumps forward in relief. She made it. 

Once she makes it into Neverwinter’s borders, she runs into a kind looking elderly woman. She jumps off her horse and pulls a photo of Magnus out of her pocket. “Have you seen this man?” She asks. “He’s my husband.”

The old woman smiles. “Oh, is that Mister Burnsides? He won the Carpentry Contest this morning! I think he’s still celebrating in the Polished Pub,” she says. “He’s quite a catch, deary,” the woman says. She eyes her up and down, as if taking in her youth. “Ah, young love,” she smiles.

Julia flushes. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She finds the pub quickly enough. She secures her horse to a fence post before she rushes in and scans for Magnus. She finds him cheerily singing songs, clearly drunk, with a huge gold medal around his neck. She creeps behind him, a big smile on her face, and covers his eyes with her hands. 

Magnus stops singing. “Who-” he hiccups. “Who’s there!?”

Julia smiles. “Guess,” she whispers. 

Julia can feel Magnus’s cheeks touch her hands as he smiles big and wide. “Jules!” Magnus cries out, spinning around in his chair and picking her up and spinning her around. He puts her down gracefully, kissing her deeply before smiling some more. “I won!”

“I’m proud of you,” Julia says softly. 

Magnus’ smile drops. “What happened with Kalen? Did he get anyone?”

“Nope,” Julia says. “I put a sleeping spell on him. And then we, ah, dealt with him properly.”

Magnus grins. “Did you cut his dick off?”

Julia giggles. “Close. It was Karl and he cut off his head. But I helped plan the whole thing.”

“That’s my wife!” Magnus shouts again, picking Julia up a second time and placing her on his shoulder as he runs around the pub. Julia laughs wildly, holding onto Magnus’ biceps for dear life as he jumps, runs, and laughs his heart out. Julia’s heart feels soft. They’re having fun. He won his competition. Kalen is gone.

This feels right. 

Magnus eventually tires himself out. He sets her down gently (gently. Always gently. The last word Julia would use to describe Magnus is gentle but when it comes to her, it’s all he is. Julia kind of loves it.) and the two stand outside the pub quietly. “He really came back,” Magnus sighs, sobered up. “He—He could’ve killed you. He could’ve killed your dad, he could’ve killed so many people, Jules. We’re so lucky you not—”

Julia gets on her tippy-toes and kisses him stupid. “Don’t think about the negatives, silly,” she whispers, holding his cheeks gently. “What matters is that everyone in Raven’s Roost is okay.”

Magnus’ eyes warm. “Okay,” he says, closing his eyes and pushing his face into her hands. 

They stand like that for a while, looking into each other’s eyes and smiling fondly.

They’re about to go to Magnus’ hotel for the night when someone stumbles out of the pub. “Magnussssss,” someone drawls. 

Julia turns around. A tall elf, tan with sunshine blond hair, is clearly drunk. “Mangus,” the elf says. “Your ch-chair, it was fuckin’ awesome. Can you make me one? Pleeeeeaaaaase?” the elf keeps going until he stumbles and falls onto the ground.

“Um,” Magnus says. “Did he call me Mangus?”

“This is a drunk elf,” Julia states. “Do you know his name?” 

Someone from behind  _ them  _ sighs. “It’s Taako.”

A dwarf emerges from the pub, flowers in his beard and a war hammer tied to his back. “Sorry he gave you trouble, Taako just got really emotional after seeing you present your chair to the rest of town. Name’s Merle Highchurch,” the dwarf introduces.

“Julia and Magnus Burnsides,” Julia introduces back. Merle smiles. 

“Need any help navigating Neverwinter? I come here a lot. I can tell you’re not from here.”

“We’re not!” Magnus shouts. Julia swats him. Magnus quiets down. “We’re not,” he says quieter. “We’re from Raven’s Roost.”

Merle’s eyes light up. “My niece works in the tavern there. I’ve even visited once or twice, but that was before the whole… ah, Kalen problem,” Merle’s eyes brighten again. “Wait, your name is Magnus? You must be the Hammer! Susan wrote me in a letter and told me about you! You saved the town!”

Magnus looks down. “I did end the war,” he admits. He turns to look at Julia with adoring eyes. “But Julia ended the dictator.”

“Ooh, that sounds like a story I’d  _ love  _ to hear,” Merle says. Before he says anything else, he rolls his eyes and murmurs a healing spell. Taako’s eyes flutter open and he slowly gets to his knees. “Come on, Taako, we’re going to listen to a story.”

Taako grumbles, wiping drunkenness from his eyes. “Just ‘cause you’re older than me doesn’t mean you can treat me like it,” he mutters.

Julia, Magnus, Merle, and Taako go back into the pub and they tell them everything. Taako starts crying at the end due to the alcohol intake. It’s a wonderful night.

After the story, it’s well past midnight, but they’re still talking. “I’m a cleric,” Merle says proudly. “From the Church of Pan! I’m helpin’ Taako out here learn the ways of nature since he’s interested.”

“In becoming a cleric?” Julia asks.

Taako laughs. “No! Oh Pan, no,” he laughs. “I’m a wizard. I just want to know more about the properties of plants. You know, for… magic. Totally not, uh… cooking accidents.”

“We’re all so cool!” Magnus exclaims. “You can talk to plants, you can make drinks taste like key-lime gogurt, Jules can literally sing people to sleep, and I can end wars!”

“We’re a whole party,” Taako observes.

It’s silent for a bit.

“Wanna do jobs together?” Magnus blurts out. “We have good damage doers—Taako and I—and we have good healers and strategizers—Merle and Jules. I love carpentry, but it doesn’t make as much money as I’d want…”

“I’m down,” Taako says, excited, before calming down and grumbling. “Y-You know… money.”

Merle smiles. “I’m okay with that.”

“Me too,” Julia says. “We should start a job next week.”

“We’re like nomads now!” Magnus says. “Traveling, doing jobs and making money, never staying in one place…”

“Looting,” Taako inputs.

“Meeting new people,” Merle sighs.

“And helping them,” Julia finishes.

Little do they know. How little do they know.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i love magnus and want him to happy with his wife as he's Alive, thank you very much. basically everything's the same in the timeline but they had one other person with them the whole time? yeah.
> 
> next installment will probably be a chaptered thing. bcos julia in this au is the eighth bird. so i need to come up with a Whole Ass Plot and relic.


End file.
